'The Club' Teen Center Now Open in Bellevue

Dozens of kids of all ages, Seattle Sounders player Brad Evans and Bellevue Mayor Conrad Lee celebrated to the opening of the newest location of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Bellevue Thursday afternoon.

"The Club" is about 9,000 square feet of recreational space aimed at high school students. It includes the Ground Zero performance stage and practice studio for bands, a computer laboratory for homework and other online activity, an art room, a teaching kitchen and games such as foosball, table tennis and pool.

The youth organization plans to keep the downtown Bellevue Boys and Girls Clubs facility on 100th Avenue Northeast, which had been known as "The Club," open for at least several more years with activities aimed at middle school students, said Kathy Haggart, President and CEO of Boys and Girls Clubs of Bellevue.

The new "Club" in Lake Hills expands the opportunities for teenagers, she said.

"The old space had 1,800 square feet...this is 9,000 square feet," she said, looking around yesterday. The new teen center also has a more open plan—with all the shelves of the library replaced with open space, computer kiosks, and games tables.

"And it's so much easier to supervise," Haggart said.

The location adjacent to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Bellevue's TXL (Teen Excellence) Center, which which features a state-of-the-art technology center donated by Microsoft with classes on computers, robotics and digital arts.

Domonique Gillette, a graduating Interlake High School student who has attended programs at several sites of Boys and Girls Clubs of Bellevue for over seven years, said that the new Club "is the best one."

"They really focused on the teens," he said.

Teens have different needs and abilities from younger students, and need a center that addresses that, he said.

"Teens need to have to get more interactive with each other and the community," Gillette said. "This addresses that with places to homework, and just be teenagers."

, has enlisted in the U.S. Marines and starts Boot Camp on Monday.

The organization purchased and converted the old Lake Hills Library into the teen center, where more than 150 young people a day are expected to attend. (The moved two years ago into a new location at Lake Hills Village shopping mall.)

The Boys and Girls Club celebrated its grand opening with a pizza cooking contest with celebrity judges, one of its bands playing and general fun, with the Boys and Girls Club youth making use of the new amenities.

The Boys and Girls Clubs of Bellevue has 13 sites throughout the city, and several of the sites have recently been revamped or are in the process of it:

If you go

The Club

Where: 15228 Lake Hills Blvd, Bellevue.

Website: http://www.bgcbellevue.org/